803. Leftfield - Leftism (1995)

Track Listing

1. Release The Pressure
2. Afro Left
3. Melt
4. Song Of Life
5. Original
6. Black Flute
7. Space Shanty
8. Inspection (Check One)
9. Storm 3000
10. Open Up
11. 21st Century Poem

Review

Leftfield brings us one of the more interesting dance albums of the mid-90s. Unfortunately it doesn't quite manage to escape the problems that mid-90s dance music has, now that we look at it with hindsight.

It is a dated, and now slightly tacky album which does not work tremendously well outside its intended venue (i.e. the club). Still it manages to raise itself above the average simply by having some very good vocal tracks.

Some of the tracks in the album are pretty good, and it does indeed start well, with two of the best tracks right up front. After a while however, it loses its sheen and the second half of the album is not nearly as good. So it is in the end a good album for what it is, but heh.

Track Highlights

1. Release The Pressure
2. Open Up
3. Afro Left
4. Original

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

It was shortlisted for the 1995 Mercury Music Prize but lost-out to "Dummy" by Portishead . In a 1998 Q magazine poll, readers voted it the eightieth greatest album of all time, while in 2000 Q magazine placed it at number 34 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.

Release The Pressure: